


The Balance of Light and Dark

by Elwyne



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-04 03:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2907197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elwyne/pseuds/Elwyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My writers' group had a Middle Earth prompt: describe a celebration of Christmas or Yule by one of Tolkien's featured races. Here, a Dwarf and an Elf argue over whose race has the better tradition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Balance of Light and Dark

"And the feasting! Oho!" Armor clanged as Gimli pounded his fist against his ample belly. "No Elf ever witnessed such feasting as this!"  


Legolas wrinkled his elegant nose in distaste. "All that animal flesh and smoke," he said. "I'll never understand how you Dwarves fail to suffocate in your own stench."  


"Aha!" Gimli tapped his nose with one thick finger. "Now you know why our halls soar so far overhead. To catch the smoke! Ah, the odor of roasting meat! Wood smoke! Boar on a spit, fat sizzling in the flame! The breath of life!"  


Legolas shook his head to dispel the infernal image. "About those halls," he said. "They shut out all the sky. How can one possibly celebrate the Solstice without the sun?"  


"We Dwarves are masters of the dark!" Gimli boasted. "We know the very instant of sunrise, miles underground! We sense the return of the light, just as you do!"  


"But you cannot feel it on your face." Legolas looked up at the sliver of moon peeking through the branches that stretched overhead. Its silver light felt cool on his skin, like a summer mist, or the water of a mountain stream. "An Elf must stand in the light."  


"Of course, an Elf cannot be separated from his precious light," Gimli grumbled. "That's why we're celebrating with your people instead of mine."  


Legolas shuddered. He could not imagine letting the Solstice pass from underground. "I am not ungrateful," he said.  


"Haha!" Gimli thumped him on the back so hard, only his Elven grace kept him from a fall. "You may be an Elf, Legolas Greenleaf," the dwarf gloated, "but by Mithras you're my Elf! Ho ho ho!"  


"I am not 'your' Elf," Legolas frowned, but the Dwarf ignored him. Instead he eyed the thickening trees with suspicion.  


"I don't see how these unfriendly trees are any better than good solid rock overhead," he muttered. "Anything might fall from them. A branch, a rotten fruit -" A bird fluttered noisily from the undergrowth, and Gimli ducked as it flapped past his head. "Not to mention what might fall from one of those!"  


Legolas smiled. In spite of himself he liked this noisy, uncouth Dwarf. Moreover he knew the family would hate him. But Thranduil had asked his only son home for the Solstice and accepted his conditions. The Elves of Mirkwood needed to be reminded now and then of the wider world outside.  


  


"What are we doing?" Gimli whispered, loud enough for any but the farthest ranks of Elves to hear.  


"Hush," said Legolas. "We await the moment of the Solstice."  


The Dwarf frowned at the long rows of Elves winding beneath the trees. Every one turned its face skyward, save a few who cast annoyed looks toward the visiting pair. "Solstice is the longest night," he complained. "How can it be a moment? and in the middle of the afternoon?"  


"The world tilts away from the sun in winter," Legolas explained, ignoring the sour expressions around them. "The Solstice celebrates the moment when it reaches its farthest, and begins to turn again toward summer."  


"Ridiculous," Gimli muttered. "Better a long night of feasting than an afternoon of standing around in the forest."  


"Shh," said Legolas quickly, and he turned his face to the sky. Every Elf held its breath as the world paused, frozen for an instant on the very edge of its orbit, as if it might choose instead to roll away entirely. Then time shifted forward again; the Sun grew imperceptibly brighter, and the Elves let out their breath as one.  


"Now," said Legolas to his confused friend. "We feast!"

  


"That is not what I would call a feast," said Gimli.  


"Honey cakes, sweet berries, and wine? What could be better?"  


The Dwarf shook his head. "Meat and ale make a feast, and fine dark bread, not this frippery."  


Legolas smiled. "It is known that Dwarves lack the refinement to enjoy such delicacies."  


"You will see. When we reach the Glittering Caves you will know a proper banquet."  


The trees began to thin, and the two friends stopped at the top of the ridge to look down into the vales of the Great River. The sun had sunk to the very rim of the land, and the first stars twinkled into view. Mirkwood stretched into eternity behind them, and the Caves of Helm's Deep lay many days' journey ahead.  


"We will reach it in time for the Balance of Spring," said Gimli. "Can an Elf bear to be underground for that?"  


Legolas gazed up into the darkening sky. Sweet wine and bitter words lingered on his tongue. If the Elves who feared to hide their faces in the ground were the same Elves who treated his friend and comrade with such disdain, perhaps it was best to leave their ways behind.  


"For friendship, this Elf can bear it."  


The Dwarf looked up in surprise. His ruddy forehead creased, and thick red whiskers twitched as little-known emotion moved across his face. Then a twinkle appeared in his eye, and he began to laugh in great thunderous peals.  


"You, my friend, shall witness a Spring Feast the like of which there has never been! Whole roast goat, sheep on a spit, new potatoes cooked right on the coals! And ale, my friend, bright with hops! Oh, how we shall dine!"  


Gimli thumped his friend on the back and began walking again toward the South and the distant Caves. With an exasperated sigh and an affectionate smile, the Elf Legolas Greenleaf hurried after him.


End file.
